KPMG’s Summer Friday half-day rollback signals deeper woes for Big Four giants Big Four Big Four giant KPMG’s removal of its Friday early finish for employees is affecting branding and souring the mood among staff, who may see this as a signal to reconsider a career at the firm. Time spent working at a Big Four giant was once a prized bauble to list on a CV. But with [...]
Kennedys tops £450m global revenue as Middle East conflict helps drive growth Legal Law firm Kennedys has reported its 12th consecutive year of growth, surpassing £450m for the first time, with the Middle East conflict partly driving revenue. The City-headquartered firm, which specialises in advising the insurance sector, has generated £457m for the financial year 1 April 2025 to 31 March 2026, up from £428m in the previous [...]
IBM’s consulting chief warns AI will ‘implode’ unprepared rivals Consulting IBM Consulting, under Mohamad Ali, claims to have surged ahead in AI by pioneering a human-plus-digital workforce and transforming its own operations before selling innovative solutions to clients, leaving less-prepared consulting rivals scrambling to keep up, writes Maria Ward-Brennan. IBM’s consulting chief, Mohamad Ali, warns that AI will “implode” unprepared rivals, claiming the group has [...]
Private equity-backed Ryan breaks with billable hour tradition as AI reshapes sector June 9, 2026 Private equity-backed tax specialist Ryan says its value-based pricing is built for the age of AI, unlike competitors that depend on traditional hourly billing. Most of the professional services sector operates under the billable-hour system, in which the specific amount of time spent working on client tasks can be invoiced. But the rise in AI [...]
Kroll chief Jacob Silverman: AI won’t kill ‘mission critical’ advisory work June 9, 2026 Jacob Silverman arrives at Kroll’s vast City office for our interview fresh off a delayed flight from Atlanta, but you’d never know unless the bright-eyed New Yorker hadn’t mentioned it. Between sips of diet coke, the firm’s global chief executive offers City AM an upbeat assessment of AI’s influence on the consultancy sector that seems [...]
Private equity faces ‘sharp shock’ of triple threat stalling market momentum June 8, 2026 The global private equity market has stalled as it faces a triple-shock of issues which are contributing to a slowdown in market momentum, according to new figures from Bain & Company. The Big Three consulting firm said in its midyear report on private equity that the industry, “which was gathering momentum at the start of [...]
Services industry falters as activity plummets amid Iran conflict fallout June 8, 2026 The UK’s services sector’s economic activity and performance declined sharply last month as fallout from the Iran conflict continues to impact businesses, according to new figures. According to data on the latest business trends from accountancy and advisory firm BDO, a drop in sales and fragile client confidence led to a drop in the services [...]
Professional services firms’ future hinges on private equity, Kroll chief says June 4, 2026 Private equity has been rewiring the professional services industry over the last few years, and with the sector undergoing enormous disruption from AI, stagnant growth, and a highly competitive market, PE investment is increasingly becoming a lifeline for firms to stay afloat. According to Jacob Silverman, chief executive of advisory and consultancy firm Kroll, private [...]
Staff burnout soars in professional services due to inefficiencies and outdated IT June 3, 2026 More than a quarter of client-facing staff at professional services firms are wasting a large portion of their working week on manual administrative tasks rather than core client work, according to new research by Unit4. The report, commissioned by Pierre Audoin Consultants (PAC), on global mid-to-large professional services firms, including those in the UK, revealed [...]
‘Clients pay for expertise, not process’ – Grant Thornton rolls out Anthropic AI June 2, 2026 Professional services giant Grant Thornton is rolling out Anthropic across its entire UK workforce as the firm seeks to embed AI in its services at a time when the technology is upending the industry. The accountancy firm’s UK arm said it will roll out Anthropic’s generative AI service, Claude, to all partners across its audit, [...]